More opportunities for businesses to attract and retain talented people are created by remote and hybrid work options. It requires an entirely new playbook to work well in hybrid work.
Photo: Courtesy publisherI co-authored How the Future Works with Brian and Sheela. In the book, we leverage not only what we have learned from two years of research and a survey of more than 10,000 knowledge workers, but also what we have seen implemented at companies like IBM, Royal Bank of Canada, and Gene. Our goal is to show leaders how to build hybrid teams. Some of the book's best parts and key lessons can be found here.
Many people think that making flexible work models successful means forcing employees to spend a certain amount of time in the office. A majority of people want a voice in how flexibility takes shape.
How can leaders balance their needs with those of their employees?
Define what flexible work means to your organization by establishing principles and guardrails. guardrails are the agreed-upon guidelines for behavior that keep a company's principles in place. This approach gives people the framework to get started, but also leaves room for teams to test and learn.
Don't fall into the trap of faux flexibility. The leaders need to lead by example. Product leadership at Slack has a policy of one dial in, all dial in for meetings. The number of days per week that executives spend in the office should be considered by leaders. Define your principles and stick to them.
We can get too focused on the days in the office when thinking about flexibility. Most people want location flexibility, but almost everyone wants schedule flexibility. It is more valuable in creating work-life balance. How can teams work on different schedules?
To make schedule flexibility work, let employees set team-level agreements. Our team members at Future Forum agree to work from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We are all available for live conversations and meetings at the same time. The rest of the day is spent on focused work.
Keeping teams on the same page requires documenting decisions and sharing discussions in virtual spaces. Teams should use digital channels for status updates and use a shared cloud doc to collaborate.
Creating a flexible and digital-first approach allows leaders to access a broader, more diverse talent pool but requires more intentional relationship building on- and offline. It can be difficult without lunchroom encounters.
Being intentional about time is what Navigating this paradigm means. In-person gatherings should be used more for connection. Teams come together in the office for a few days or weeks at a time to plan and socialize. The new offsites are called the Onsites. Encourage teams to find the rhythm that works best for them, whether that means gathering monthly for more frequent product sprints or quarterly for long-term strategy planning sessions.
It is important to create programmatic ways for people to build networks. Digital tools like Donut and Gatheround can be used to connect with people outside of your team.
Executives need to consult a new playbook to get the most out of talented people in a hybrid work environment. Employees at companies that experiment with new, more flexible ways of working are reporting improved work-life balance, greater productivity, and even a better sense of belonging than those working full time in the office. Workers don't want to give up that, and leaders who want to attract and retain top talent must be intentional about the transformation of their work models.
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